Pretoria - A 20-year-old student, who had walked into a police station claiming to have been robbed of his laptop, was detained in Sunnyside, east of Pretoria, police said on Wednesday.
“It was discovered that he had allegedly opened a false case of robbery with the intent of initiating a false insurance claim. The 20-year-old student allegedly told the police that he had been robbed of his laptop by three armed men somewhere along Jorissen Street, in Sunnyside, last Thursday,” said Sunnyside police spokesperson, Captain Daniel Mavimbela.
“Little did the suspect know that a follow-up interview by the local detectives would reveal inconsistencies in the statement that he had initially submitted. The police reportedly found that the suspect had lent the laptop to his brother, who alleged later that it had been stolen. The duo are believed to have reconciled that the suspect [the student] would inform the police that he had lost the laptop during a robbery.”
Mavimbela said the student, who cannot be named until he appears in court, has been charged with perjury, an offence that carries a sentence of up to three years imprisonment.
